Group Activism Blog: Week 10

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
4/23/10

Group Activism Blog: Week 10


Activism

In our final week of our project we still haven't heard from Senator Aronberg or Representative Fitzgerald with regards to our interview questions pertaining to the Healthy Teens Act and HB 169. I'm beginning to think that we will never hear from them or that it will be too late to apply their answers to Heidi's article she has written with the hopes of getting it published. Because we are lacking this information we can't even send her paper to any magazines with the hopes of it being published. On the bright side though Dominique loved the piece that I sent to her for her service learning project that she has for one of her other classes. The collection of essays that she has gathered will be printed and distributed among those who contributed, and I'm hoping a select other people. Although this article won't be largly distributed due to a lack of funds I'm hoping that enough people will read this article and want to help make a change to the sex education system that Florida currently holds. Hopefully these new supporters will also e-mail and call Aronberg, Deutch, and Fitzgerald and stress the importance of this bill. If the supporters of this bill express their interest in the passing of the Healthy Teens Act these senators and representatives sponsoring this bill will have more of a drive to see that this act moves forward.

Reflection

All in all I wish I had seen this project go in a different direction than it did. I knew that when I signed up for this project that it wasn't going to be easy. I almost switched to the GLBSU group the day we were signing up for our groups but something called me to this particular project. I'm sure more would have been accomplished if we didn't lose one of our members after we wrote our proposal and had a game plan set. I'm happy with the article I wrote. I hope it will make a difference (if only the smallest bit) in seeing change to the state of our sex education programs in Florida

Reciprocity

This project has really reinforced my desire to become a sex educator. If I want to ever be a sex educator in this state though change must be made. While there are some counties in Florida that have decided to teach comprehensive sex education most of the counties don't. One of these counties is the county that I grew up in. I don't want to see any more teenagers and young adults suffer because they weren't given the proper education they needed.

Group Service Learning Blog: Week 9

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002

4/18/10

Group Service Learning Blog: Week 9


Activism

This week I sent Dominique the piece I wrote about sex education and the Healthy Teens Act for her service learning project. Going into writing this piece I wasn't sure how to write it informatively while being interesting at the same time. I considered entering a personal story but decided against it because I didn't want to make the piece too long. When I sent the piece though I asked Dominique for any feedback and asked if I should add my own personal story with how I was taught sex education as a teen. Dominique loved the idea so I went back and added my personal story in the piece. Our other article that Heidi has written though still seems to have no progress made yet because we still have yet to hear back from Senator Aronberg or Representative Fitzgerald. Without these interviews we can't get her article published.

Reflection

This project has proven to be a lot harder than any of us ever anticipated. Since we couldn't get in contact with any of the supporters of the bill while in Tallahassee we had to e-mail them. While e-mail isn't the greatest form of getting in contact with someone for an interview it's sometimes the only form that you can do when trying to contact busy government officials such Dave Aronberg and Kieth Fitzgerald. It would also have helped our cause if we were affiliated with a larger community or school group. Since there were only three of us our voice was most likely not remembered. While we only got a little progress done with the piece I wrote for Dominique's collection of writings that little progress is better than no progress at all.

Reciprocity

I had such a great feeling after writing my piece for Dominique's collection of writings. All I could think of was who was going to possibly be reading my article and want to help change the current situation of our sex education programs or even share what they learned in my article with their friends and family. Hearing Dominique's positive feedback convinced me that my article is great and educational. I really hope that I will enlighten at least one reader.

The Native American Saves Gaia, Er, I Mean Atreyu Saves The Empress

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
4/14/10

The Native American Saves Gaia, Er, I Mean Atreyu Saves The Empress

One common theme that has always been present in children's media is the means to temporarily escape from school, homework, bullies, parents, and other such "nuisances". Everytime a child reads a book, or watches a movie they are transformed into a different world than their own. Most of the time these stories are filled with fantasy and wildly fictional characters. "The NeverEnding Story" is one of the many movies that came out in the 80s that dealt with a child escaping their lives and mystically traveling to some fantasy land. While this story was made to be a fun, entertaining movie for kids, it holds some stereotypes as well as undertones of ecofeminism.

In "The NeverEnding Story" there is a story within a story. In the story that Bastien is reading there is a terrible "nothing" that is sweeping over the land of Fantasia and erasing every one and thing. In order to save this land the people call on Atreyu. While the one person that comes to save the land is a boy, not a girl, the boy is made to look very similar to a Native American. As discussed in class on Wednesday, April 7th, stereotypically all Native Americans are connected to the earth and care deeply about their environment (Perez 4/5/10). While his nationality isn't discussed, Atreyu is a medium-skinned boy with shoulder-length black hair who wears pants and a vest made from what appears to be an animal skin of some sorts. He is also only mentioned to the people of Fantasia as "a powerful warrior who hunts the purple buffalo".

The main quest that Atreyu is sent on is to find a cure for the empress's illness. It is said that if she dies Fantasia dies too. It is because of this claim that it can be said that The Empress is the "Gaia" of the land. Whenever the "nothing" takes over another part of Fantasia, the empress becomes more ill. While The Empress plays a big part of the story (in a way) she is never seen until the last 20 minutes of the film. The Empress is a young girl who is fraile in figure, fair-skinned, has blonde hair, and blue eyes. The media views a white girl with blonde hair and blue eyes as being the most pure and good person there is. The Empress is also shown as being a weak figure in the story. Even though she has all of this power and is so connected to the land she is of no help to Atreyu, and later Bastian, when Fantasia is hanging on by a thread. She is never once standing or moving about. The only time you ever see the empress is when she is sitting on her bed-like throne atop the Ivory Tower.

"The NeverEnding Story" unknowingly mixes a bit of the Gaia Theory with the Madea Theory. The one half of Fantasia is The Empress who's life depends on the state of Fantasia. Atreyu is sent off for a cure so that The Empress can save herself/Fantasia. The other half of Fantasia is the "nothing", created by those who lack an imagination. Since this world is based upon imagination it is, in a way, killing itself. Those who don't believe in Fantasia can be tied to humans on earth today with regards to their carbon footprint. Like in "Gaia Girls: Enter the Earth" those who lack the imagination to believe in Fantasia don't think of what their lack of imagination has done to this fantasy world. They are the 5th cell on their little toe that's going a little crazy (Welles 68). Luckily there was one boy who believed in Fantasia and saved The Empress and her land.

Works Cited

Perez, Jeaninna. "Ecofeminism." Introduction to Women's Studies: Ecofeminsim. University of Central Florida, Orlando. 5 Apr. 2010. Lecture.

"The NeverEnding Story". Dir. Wolfgang Petersen. Netflix.com. Web. 14 Apr. 2010.

Welles, Lee. Gaia Girls: Enter the Earth. White River Junction: Chelsea Green Company, 2006. Print.

Group Activisim Blog: Week 8

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
4/9/10

Group Activisim Blog: Week 8

Activism

After the not-so-successful day at Tallahassee a couple of weeks ago I decided to look into other projects that our group could do to strengthen our activism. Gryphyn still plans to work on getting her aritcle published in one of the markets that Ryan researched for her once she hears back from Senator Deutch. She's waiting to hear if she can possibly do a phone or e-mail interview with the Senator and ask him questions pertaining to the Healthy Teens Act. I, on the other hand, came across a great idea when Dominique promoted her own community activism project to the class earlier this week. I have decided to submit an article of my own about the horrors of abstinence-only sex education and The Healthy Teens Act to her project. By submitting this writing I will hopefully capture an audience of readers that will know of our cause and why it is so important. I'm also planning to add information in the article that will allow the readers to contact those who support the need for comprehensive sex education.

Reflection

I know that this article that I'll write for Dominique's project won't reach a widespread audience, but if only a handful of people read my article I will have informed that handful of people of the message that our group is trying to spread and what needs to be done to right this wrong in our education system. Environmental justice, which states that all citizens have a right to healthy living and working conditions (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 541), can be also used to convey the right to comprehensive sex education. Every child has a right to know how their bodies work and how to protect their bodies from unwanted pregnancy and STIs if they choose to have sex.

Reciprocity

I can't be more excited to write my article for Dominique's compilation. I've been wanting to see change made to the Florida sex education system for some time now. This project has only strengthened that desire. Our group's contribution to this change may only count to as one drop of water in the bucket. I will be happy to know that this change was made with my help. I've learned from this project that even the smallest bits of activism can help bring change.

Work Cited

"Women and the Environment." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 535-49. Print.

The War on Iraq: The New Cold War?

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
4/5/10

The War on Iraq: The New Cold War?

Riverbend's blog Baghdad Burning gives readers a first-hand look into life as an Iraqi during the American attack on Iraq. Her August 7, 2004 blog entitled Clashes and Churches... focuses on how the United States' government has made the war into a paranoid attack on the Islamic people. Clashes and Churches... is also a personal entry that gives readers a view into the Iraqi culture, with regards to religion, while at the same time busting the myth that Iraqi people don't respect other religions.

According to the essay Women and the Military, War, and Peace one of the four basic requirements for for human security is "People's fundamental human dignity, agency, and cultural identities must be honored." (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey 510) The middle section of this particular blog entry Riverbend discusses the collapse of the Christian culture in her neighborhood. At the time of this entry the churches near her were recently bombed. These bombings have affected her personally because they remind her of the good times she shared with the Christian people in her neighborhood. The Christians and the Muslims in her neighborhood, and Iraq, have lived together peacefully for centuries. Many of the Christians have now left in fear for their own lives. With the destruction of the churches the Iraqi cultural identities have, in a way, not been honored.

Towards the end of the blog entry Riverbend discusses her disgust with how the war is being twisted in a means to gain support from the American people. Riverbend explains her belief that all of the bombings of the churches and other Christian establishments are an attempt to make the Islamic people look like the villains. The American people have been taught that their way of life is worth fighting and perhaps dying for (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey 493). With Christianity being the number one religion in America these bombings (according to Riverbend) have been twisted to look as a direct attack on the American people. Riverbend even goes on to describe the War on Iraq as being the "new Cold War".

Unlike the first Cold War, this war has seen it's fair share of casualties of both soldiers and civilians. Riverbend's blog Baghdad Burning clearly depicts the civilian casualties of the war. These were men and women who died not because they hated America or Americans in general, but because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The media has in turn described these men and women as being 'insurgents' (Riverbend 7 Aug 2004). In the views of Riverbend the Christians who have become her friends throughout her life have been chased from their homes out of fear in order to instill fear and support in the Americans. Whether this war is about protecting Christianity, fighting against terrorism, fighting for our national security, or fighting for oil, innocent Iraqis are being sacrificed for the pointless American cause. The American military has sacrificed Iraq's national security in an attempt to "protect" America's.

Works Cited

Riverbend. "Clashes and Churches..." Web log post. Baghdad Burning. Blogspot, 7 Aug. 2004. Web. 5 Apr. 2010.

"Women and the Military, War, and Peace." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 493-510. Print.

Group Activism Blog: Week 7

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
4/2/10

Group Activism Blog: Week 7

Activism

This week our group reflected on the experience in Tallahassee and how we could make up for the information we failed to find out that day. Without a proper interview from Senator Deutch or Senator Aronberg we don't see Gryphyn's article seeing a magazine publisher. Since Gryphyn's piece is a news piece about the progress of The Healthy Teens Act we can't get the article published without the proper news information. Because we need this information we decided to e-mail Senator Deutch since he is the main sponsor of this proposed Bill. The e-mail sent to him requested a phone or e-mail interview with the Senator with questions regarding The Healthy Teens Act and where it stands in activity now. Hopefully the Senator will agree to our inquiry of questioning him so that we can complete Gryphyn's article in time to get it published before the end of this semester.

Reflection

The movement of bringing comprehensive sex education to school systems is very much like the global women's movement. This movement that our group has taken a part of is moving in a spiral fashion. According to the article "The Global Women's Movement", "a spiral is open-ended, continuous, ever enlarging our understanding of events, our perspectives." (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 634) The movement of bringing comprehensive sex education is a global effort with many countries already teaching comprehensive sex education. With these countries adopting these teachings it has spiraled out to other countries. Here in the United States many states and counties within the states make it mandatory to teach medically-accurate comprehensive sex education to children. Our group has focused on one of the many tips of the larger spiral. It will be a large step if we see something change with the state of our sex education programs in Florida's schools.

Reciprocity

Despite the difficulty in getting things accomplished within this group, this experience has been an eye-opener and a learning experience. This group activism project has taught me just how hard it is to get a grassroots movement going. Hopefully when I enter the world of sex education I don't have to deal with the struggles of wanting to teach in a state that wishes to not have me.

Work Cited

Antrobus, Peggy. "The Global Women's Movement." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 629-36. Print.

Group Activism Blog: Week 6

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
3/26/10

Group Activism Blog: Week 6

Activism

This week Gryphyn, Ryan, and I went with a group from UCF to lobby in Tallahassee. Dominique told us of this event and that she was going. We decided that this would be a great opportunity to try to get into contact with Senator Deutch and Senator Aronberg. Before the trip to Tallahassee we assigned each other jobs for the day's efforts. Ryan was assigned the job of researching possible markets to get Gryphyn's article published. I was assigned the job of creating interview questions in case we had the chance to speak with either or both senators that day. Gryphyn had a book of publishing markets for Ryan to research the markets in. She also had a book with a chapter teaching the reader how to construct and carry out an interview. I read that chapter and was fully prepared to interview Deutch or Aronberg if the opportunity were to arise. Sadly though I was not given that chance. It happened to be that the Senators were going into session the night of the day we were there visiting the Capitol.

Reflection

The day at the Capitol didn't see any accomplishments on our group's behalf but I did notice progress with the larger group we were with. This brought me to the conclusion that if we had more than just three people trying to convey our cause we probably would have been able to speak to more representatives and senators. The closest our group got to either Aronberg or Deutch was towards the end of the day we passed Aronberg in the hallway. He was on his way to the Senate session so he didn't have any time to talk. All in all the day wasn't a success on our group's end but it was a learning experience that I was glad to partake in.

Reciprocity

The article "Women and the Military, War, and Peace" talks about how the military is often viewed as being homophobic, racist, and sexist. This is the same problem with abstinence-only sex education programs. I'm hoping that once I become a sex educator that I can eliminate these problems and bring about a sex education program that speaks to all young men and women from different walks of life.

Work Cited

"Women and the Military, War, and Peace." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 493-511. Print.

Group Activism Blog: Week 5

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
3/19/10

Group Activism Blog: Week 5

Activism

This week our group didn't do much other than sign up for the UCF Day at the Capitol. Dominique gave us the idea to go to this event so that we could possibly speak with Senator Deutch and Senator Aronberg. We all decided that this oppotunity would be a great way to turn our project around. Gryphyn informed Ryan and I that she has an article to write for her magazine writing class. She gave the idea that we could use that opportunity to write the article about the Healthy Teens Act and try to get it published in a magazine.

Reflection

Over the past two weeks I've been feeling at a loss for this project. This project is something that I'm very passionate about and to watch it fall apart before my eyes was a bit disheartening. This new shift or our group's activity though seems to be the shining beacon to our project's salvation. This upcoming day of rallying with UCF at the State Capitol brings up a great quote from the article "At The Table". This quote is, "If this system of ours is supposed to be 'of the people, by the people' then let's claim the system for ourselves." (Seely 94) When our group goes to rally for support for our cause we will be claiming the system for ourselves. The elected officials help inact laws and speak for all of the citizens. By speaking for our cause these officials will hear our voices and will hopefully act in favor of our causes.

Reciprocity

I'm so relieved to see that this project finally has some direction again. If this project goes well I believe it will look great on my resume when I try applying for careers that will help me realize my dream of becoming a sex educator. It's so great to know that my voice will speak for all of the children out there that need proper sex education free of false information and gender stereotypes.

Work Cited

Seely, Megan. "At The Table." Fight Like A Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York UP, 2007. 93-121. Print.

Ready For A Throwdown?

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
3/17/10

Ready For A Throwdown?

The seventh episode of the newest hit show to enter Fox’s prime time line-up, named “Glee”, deals with issues of segregation, two pregnancies (one real and one fake), a rivalry between two teachers, and the continued love triangle of three of the fellow glee club members. In this episode we find that Mr. Schuester’s (the Glee instructor) wife Terri is currently trying to cover up a hysterical pregnancy that she created in order to save her marriage. Terri and her sister have schemed to keep Terri’s false pregnancy from Will (Mr. Schuester) by giving off the charade of being pregnant and then adopt Quinn’s (the captain of the Cheerios who is pregnant) baby. Terri has quit her job in order to “prepare for her baby”. Her quitting her job has resulted in her “mommy tax”. By not having a job she is sacrificing that much needed income in order to raise her child when he or she is “born”. According to the essay “The Mommy Tax”, “men who are primary caregivers also pay a heavy price: a ‘daddy tax’” (Crittenden 341). Will’s “daddy tax” has now become the primary caregiver of their growing family. With only one person bringing in the home income (who is only a high school Spanish teacher), Will takes on a second job in the second episode as a night shift janitor.

Quinn’s pregnancy has created her own “mommy tax”. Her “mommy tax” is not necessarily all monetary though. Her pregnancy has brought up not only the money costs that come with giving birth to a child, but also the social costs too. Quinn is portrayed on the show as the most popular girl in school. She’s the typical captain of the cheerleading team who’s dating the quarterback of the football team. She has convinced her boyfriend Finn that he is the father of her child, when in fact Finn’s best friend Puck is the father. By the end of the episode Quinn pays her social “mommy tax” when Sue Sylvester (the Cheerios coach) finds out about Quinn’s pregnancy. Sue kicks her off of the team. As a result of this Quinn quickly loses her popularity and a large part of who she feels she is. Her only place to turn to is her fellow members of the Glee Club.

One of the biggest themes in this episode though is when Sue and Will begin to share the role of co-operating the glee club. Sue, who is on a relentless path of glee-club-destruction, has now found a new way of splitting up the glee club. She finds a loop hole in the rule book in which she can divide the club up and rehearse her own songs. She quickly snatches up all of the minorities in the club in an effort to make them feel as if someone is listening to their needs and cares for them (which she states that Mr. Schuester doesn’t do so). At the same time though she gives them heartless nicknames (“gay kid”, “Aretha”, “Shaft”, “Asian Kid”, “Other Asian Kid”, and “Wheels”). The only kid that she doesn’t give a crude nickname to is the Latina girl who is one of her Cheerios. Sue is the kind of woman who is bent on achieving success and doesn’t care about who she hurts along the way. Her Cheerio cheerleader squad is more known than being great cheerleaders than being smart. In fact, most of the girls on the cheerleader squad are portrayed as being stupid (with the exception of Quinn). In this episode Will even states that on one of the Spanish tests he gave a member of the Cheerios “misspelled her name and drew pictures of sombreros for all of the answers” (“Throwdown” 16:15).

According to Seely’s article “At The Table” “Music, television, and movies set the tone for behavior, style, sexuality, and gender” (Seely 103). While “Glee” is a great show that tackles many different issues such as racism, sexism, able-bodiness, and homophobia, it tends to do it in a very stereotypical fashion. The cheerleaders are dumb, the football players are popular, and the “gleeks” are the outcasts.

Works Cited


Crittenden, Ann. "The Mommy Tax." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 337-45. Print.

Falchuk, Brad, Ryan Murphy, and Ian Brennan. "Throwdown." Glee. Dir. Ryan Murphy. Fox. 14 Oct. 2009. Mega Video. Web. 18 Mar. 2010.

Seely, Megan. "At The Table." Fight Like A Girl. New York: New York UP, 2009. 93-121. Print.

Did Earl Really Have To Die?

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
March 8, 2010

Did Earl Really Have To Die?

"Goodbye Earl" by The Dixie Chicks tells the tale of two best friends that scheme to end the life of one of the girl's husband because of his abusive ways. The one best friend, Mary Anne, escaped the town after high school graduation. In the song they never mention where she went but one can assume that she was off earning an education. The other girl, Wanda, stayed in the town and ended up with Earl. After marrying Earl she began being abused by him. This is when Wanda enters what Megan Seely describes in her essay "Fighting Back" as a cycle of domestic violence.

Their cycle started at the Honeymoon stage. As portrayed in the music video, Wanda enters Earl's car wearing her wedding gown and a wide grin on her face. Shortly after that moment the cycle of violence is put into motion. When Wanda enters the denial stage she chooses to cover up her reminders of her daily abuse ("She put on dark glasses and long sleeved blouses and make-up to cover a bruise") (The Dixie Chicks). This denial stage of the cycle led into the Tension Building stage. This is the stage in which Wanda decides that she's had enough of the abuse and of Earl and files for divorce, along with a restraining order against Earl. Earl fights back by abusing Wanda to the point of landing her in intensive care. Wanda's friend Mary Anne, who never seemed to be to present in Wanda's post-marriage life, magically shows up at her friend's bedside. They both then scheme to end Earl's life. Earl's final abuse against Wanda and Wanda and Mary Anne's murder plot against Earl are both to be described as the fourth stage of the domestic violence cycle as the "Explosion of Violence" stage.

Seely's article states that this cycle goes on until the woman leaves the relationship or dies (Seely 189). In this case however, Wanda left the relationship by killing Earl. Both Wanda and Mary Anne discussed that the only way out of Wanda's relationship was for them to poison and kill Earl. In the article "Violence Against Women" it is stated that "Occasionally women kill abusive partners, seemingly the only way out of situations in which they believe they would be killed if they did not defend themselves" (Kirk 258).

While the subject of being in an abusive relationship and seeing no way out of it other than ending the life of the one who is abusing you is one of very morbid tones, The Dixie Chicks make the subject into an upbeat song that screams "Girl Power!" By the end of the music video the whole town (including the zombie Earl) is dancing in the streets celebrating the death of Earl. "Goodbye Earl" gives an almost positive message to women that killing your abusive spouse is an accepted and okay way to leave a relationship infected with domestic violence. Many women (sadly including myself) love this song too. Why does it seem that the only songs that women have to look to that embody women empowerment also deal with violent matters such as this? Does the proverbial Earl in every domestic violence relationship have to be murdered in order for these battered women (and sometimes men) to escape their horrible situation they were dealt with? If only women today had more positive female power songs to look up to.

Works Cited

The Dixie Chicks. "Goodbye Earl." Fly. Monument Records, 1999. MP3.

Seely, Megan. "Fighting Back." Fight Like A Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York UP, 2007. 185-217. Print.

"Violence Against Women." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 257-73. Print.

Group Activism Blog: Week 4

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
3/5/10

Group Activism Blog: Week 4

Activism

This week our group was still caught in a slump with finding out where to go with our project. After class on Monday Gryphyn and I discussed possible ways to convince parents why their children need comprehensive sex education. We came up with possibly creating a mock comprehensive sex education class for parents to attend so they could see what their children were going to be taught if The Healthy Teens Act is ever brought back into session again and was passed. That way the parents who attended would be involved in their childrens' possible education and be allowed to ask questions. In order to do such a task though I would want to find a professional sex education teacher and a proper venue to hold this event in. The idea never progressed into anything more because I think we realized how hard it would be to take on such a task without an organization to back us up and the fact that we are now short a member of our group.

Reflection

This idea would have been fantastic if we had the needed support to carry out the plan. It would have also been a learning experience for us. I think it would have been great to see how a proper comprehensive sex education class will be taught if The Healthy Teens Act is ever passed. Maybe the three of us would have been able to pull off this event on our own if we didn't have other responsibilities taking up our schedules. While I was reading Seely's chapter "Fighting Back" I was reading the short list of rape myths she listed. Three of them really caught my attention. These three are "Rape is a part of men's biological nature"; "Men cannot control their sexual desires/arousal"; and "Women provoke rape by the clothes they wear, their make-up, the way they act." (Seely 192) These same myths are often carried over into abstinence-only sex education courses except of these myths pertaining to rape they pertain to sex in general.

Reciprocity

This project and the class in general strengthens my desire to become a sex educator. Hopefully my dream will someday be realized.


Work Cited

Seely, Megan. "Fighting Back." Fight Like a Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York UP, 2007. 185-217. Print.

Group Activism Blog: Week 3

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
2/26/10

Group Activism Blog: Week 3

Activism

Cecily hasn't been to class in the past week so our group can only come to the solution that she has either withdrawn from the class or just decided not to go to class alltogether. The possible loss of a group member can hurt the outcome of our project greatly. Not only did we unexpectedly lose a group member we still don't have a community partner. Grassroots movements depend on the support of its followers and leaders. Since we have no leader and lost one of our followers the goals of our causes seem a little bleak. I'm hoping things start to turn around for us because this project means a lot to me.

Reflection

I'm a little upset to see the loss of Cecily. I really enjoyed having her in the group. I also think that she was really dedicated to the project and wanted to see changes made to our Florida sex education system. In the beginning of our group meetings it was apparent that Cecily was having problems making it to class and meetings because of her work schedule. This schedule conflict was what probably ultimately made her choose work over school.

Reciprocity

As a sex educator I want to teach teens and young adults about how to have a safe, healthy sex life if they choose to have sex. I also want to empower the young women in my classes that they shouldn't be afraid of who they are as sexual beings. They have a right to own their own sexuality and take control of it. Young women should also not be ridiculed or ashamed for enjoying and accepting who they are. Sandra Cisneros's essay "Guadalupe the Sex Goddess" greatly illustrates my goals for the young women who I wish to teach someday. With each new depth of Cisneros's personal sexual discovery she found out things about her that she didn't even know she knew (Cisneros 166). I had that same experience. I found through my own sexual discovery that I wanted to become a sex educator. I want to teach other young women like myself that there are great people inside them waiting to come out. All you have to do is be honest with who you are.

Work Cited

Cisneros, Sandra. "Guadalupe the Sex Goddess." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 164-67. Print.

Group Activism Blog: Week 2

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
2/19/10

Group Activism Blog: Week 2

Activism

In the second week of our activism project the group and I met and shared with each other what we had done with regards to the tasks we assigned each other the previous week. Heidi had problems finding the exact wording but, with the help of Dominique, we were able to find the bill and who was sponsoring it. I found one article in particular that really stood out to me as to why The Healthy Teens Act needed to be brought back to life and needed all the support it can get. There was not only a health concern for young women when teaching comprehensive sex education but a social concern too. Abstinence-only programs not only give out false information regarding pregnancy, condoms, and contracting STIs, these programs also perpetuate stereotypes among men and women. Ryan and Cecily came to the meeting offering nothing in the form of group contact so we discussed possible school clubs and groups that we could get to support our cause. We considered VOX and NOW and since Cecily has ties with the sororities and fraternities on campus we considered getting their involvement too.

Reflection

I never thought much past the health aspects of the necessity to teach comprehensive sex education to young men and women as well as children until I did the research I did. I found that abstinence-only programs continually teach girls that they need to safe guard their virginity from boys because boys are, by nature, sexual beings. These curricula also condemn girls and women if they choose to be sexually active. They claim that these girls are no longer pure, unspoiled, or fresh because they choose to loose their virginity. These curricula at the same time don't mention why a boy should hold on to his virginity or how he will be perceived if he chooses to have sex before marriage. According to the article Women's Sexuality "This fundamental contradiction between encouraging men's sexuality and expecting women to be chaste results in the contradiction of two categories of women:"good" women and "bad" women, virgins and whores- the women men marry and the women they fool around with." (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 151) These abstinence-only curricula are only causing these girls the constant worrying about how they are being perceived by their peers and the rest of society.

Reciprocity

I'm really hoping this project goes somewhere. The more I learn about this subject the more I'm convinced that I want to be a sex educator to teens and young adults.

Works Cited

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. "Women's Sexuality." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 149-60. Print.

The Crowned Prince of McDonnagh Electric Meets The Crowned Princess of The Noble Poor

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
16 February 2010

The Crowned Prince of McDonnagh Electric Meets The Crowned Princess of The Noble Poor

Pretty in Pink tells the story of a working class teenage girl named Andie who questions her need to go to her senior prom and in the process falls in love with a “richie” named Blane McDonnagh. This movie focuses on a wide gap of social classes in Andie’s high school. It seems that every student is either a member of the working class or a member of the upper class. Pretty in Pink doesn’t show any kind of resemblance of a middle class (unless you want to say that technically the teachers in the school could be considered members of the middle class). Either you’re rich or you’re poor.

Andie grew up in what most people would consider to be a typical working class home. Her mother left her and her father when she was young. Her father never holds on to a job for any length of time, and as a result, works many different odd jobs. From the very beginning of the movie Andie is nagging at her father to get out of bed and start job hunting. Andie, on the other hand, is “hard-working, ragged but clean, and intrinsically noble” (Allison 115). She focused herself on her schoolwork and even earned some scholarships. When she isn’t at school Andie works part-time at a record store. Her money is barely spent on recreational items. She is known to make all of her clothing and is often praised by her fellow working class friends and her father about her “latest creations”. The only people who don’t praise her hard work was the other half of the school, the “richies”, the upper class.

It’s not hard to tell who in the school has money and who doesn’t. The poor girls wear dark colored, worn-looking outfits that had a grunge, punk, and off-the-wall look to them. The rich girls at school wear preppy outfits that are white or pastel colored. Before class and during lunch the poor kids sit outside while the rich kids rule the hallways. This deep class segregation amongst the school causes a silent uproar when Andie and Blane first start talking. Whenever one of them crosses over into the other social class’s territory they immediately receive poor judgments from the members of that certain party. When Andie goes on her first date with Blane she dresses up nicely in an attempt to impress him and not look so poor compared to him. From the very moment they walk into Blane’s friend’s party she receives criticism. One girl at the party says to her “Nice pearls. This isn’t a dinner party honey.” (Hughes) This separation between the two social classes is what eventually causes Blane to break up with Andie within days of asking her to the prom. Instead of moping about and crying over Blane breaking up with her, Andie decides to make a prom dress and go to prom with or without him. Her reasoning is that she wants to “let them know they didn’t break me” (Hughes). The they in that remark refers to all of the rich kids who ridiculed her for being different, for being poor. In the end Andie goes to her prom to avoid feeling bad for not going and wins back the love of Blane. In the end Andie holds on to a sense of who she is while winning the affection of someone who the upper class would deem to be superior and legitimate (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 96)



Works Cited


Allison, Dorothy. "A Question of Class." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. 112-19. Print.

Okazawa-Rey, Margo. "Social Categories, Classifications, and Structural Inequality: Macro and Global Levels." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. 95-96. Print.

Pretty in Pink. Dir. John Hughes. Paramount, 1986. DVD.

Group Activism Blog: Week 1

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
2/12/10

Group Activism Blog: Week 1

Activism

In our first week together as a group we met up and discussed the project as a whole, where we would like to see it progress, and who to get in contact with in order to get our project going. Since we were not affiliated with any organization to begin with we thought of contacting Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando in a means to see if they were currently doing anything with regards to the Healthy Teens Act. We also researched the Healthy Teens Act and sought to find the actual wording of the bill. We set goals for each of the members of the group. Gryphyn would be in charge of researching all of the legal jargin of the bill and where it stands right now in how actively it's getting pushed. I would be in charge of finding out how The Healthy Teens Act and teaching comprehensive sex education pertains to the Women's Rights movement. Ryan and Cecily would be in charge of contacting other groups (on and off campus) who might be interested in helping our cause along.

Reflection

In researching sex education among the country (but mostly Florida) I found that Florida has the sixth-highest teen pregnancy rate and the second-highest rate of HIV and AIDS cases. According to the essay in Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives, entitled Women's Bodies, Women's Health, "Sexually transmitted infections affect some 19 million people each year, almost half of them aged 15-24."(Kirk, Okazawa-Rey 215) Florida's continuance of teaching abstinence-only programs in their school systems is only hurting the future generations of teens and young adults. Most of these young men and women are becoming sexually active without any form of proper sex education to guide them to a safe and healthy sex life. These abstinence-only programs are only scaring these children into believing that if they don't have vaginal sex they're fine in the "Lord's Eye", so to speak, while at the same time giving absolutely no information to the young LGBTQQI community who is already being "condemned" for not following the heteronormative way of life.

Reciprocity

This project really appealed to be from the beginning because I have long since considered becoming a sex educator. By participating in this project I will have a hand in bringing comprehensive sex education to the Florida school systems. I feel that it is rewarding teaching the young men and women about how to have a safe and healthy sex life while teaching them that while abstinence is the safest way to prevent pregnancy and the contraction of STIs, it isn't the only way to protect themselves if they completely feel that they are ready to take on the responsibilities of having sex.

Works Cited

"Women's Bodies, Women's Health." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 207-24. Print.

Service Learning Proposal

Service Learning Proposal

Service Learning Proposal
For Healthy Teens Campaign

Heidi Hosmer
Madison Zierk
Cecily Bowen
Ryan Holmes

2/3/2010
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 sec. 0002


Community Partner(s): The Healthy Teens Campaign
Address: None available
Contact: (941) 923-4555

The Healthy Teens Campaign Mission Statement
“The Healthy Teens Campaign is a broad-based coalition made up of education, public health, and faith-based organizations that seek to improve the health and safety of Florida teens through comprehensive sex education. The Healthy Teens Campaign supports The Healthy Teens Act, which will require that Florida public schools receiving state funding provide comprehensive, medically-accurate, and age-appropriate factual information when teaching about sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, family planning, or pregnancy.”

Political Basis for The Healthy Teens Campaign
The Healthy Teens Campaign works to pass The Healthy Teens Act, an act that will help to bring comprehensive sex education to teens all across Florida.

The Healthy Teens Campaign Needs
The passing of The Healthy Teens Act. In order to pass this act there is the possibility that this group will need help with petitioning, e-mail drives, promoting the act, etc.


Memorandum
TO: Jeannina Perez
FROM: Madison Zierk, Heidi Hosmer, Ryan Holmes, and Cecily Bowen
DATE: 5/3/10
RE: Proposal to Write a Feasibility Report for a Service Learning Project
The following is a proposal to outline the needs, rationale and feasibility for a service learning project to benefit The Healthy Teens Campaign. The following proposal contains background on the need for and benefits of a comprehensive sex education project, and outline of the work we plan to do, the rationale for its inclusion in WST 3015, and a scheduled timeline. This proposal may need to be revised after beginning the project and must be flexible to meet the needs of the both the Service Learning project and the community partners.

Need for The Healthy Teens Campaign
This community partner has a mission statement that deal with wanting to bring comprehensive sex education to the Florida school systems. They are currently working to pass the Healthy Teens Act, an act that will bring medically-accurate, comprehensive sex education to teens across Florida.

Plan Proposal
Our group is currently waiting to hear back from our proposed community partners to see what needs to be done with helping to get The Healthy Teens Act passed. Right now we anticipate the possibility of having to petition, run e-mail drives, and promote the purpose of the act and the need for comprehensive sex education in the Florida school systems.

Rationale for Women’s Studies
Getting the state of Florida to pass the Healthy Teens Act will deal with two different problems pertaining to women’s issues. The first issue is the rising rate of teen pregnancies in Florida and the rest of the United States. According to the article “Could Sex Ed Be Coming to Florida’s Schools?” at the beginning of 2009 Florida was ranked number six in the nation in teen-pregnancy rates. In 2008 Orange County reported 1,678 teen births (ages 10-19) in a population of 1,115,248 residents. Seminole county reported 385 teen births in a population of 425,911 residents. Both of those counties saw about 10% of their population give birth to a child before they were 20 years-old.

The other women’s issue that arises with teaching abstinence-only sex education is the way the curriculum is taught. Many abstinence-only curricula place the responsibility to abstain from sex all on the girls. They teach that men have uncontrollable urges and aggressions and girls should know how to protect themselves from their advances. These curricula also teach teens to look down on any girl that has sex. They are taught to look at any girl who isn’t a virgin as being “no longer pure, unspoiled, fresh” (Community Action Kit). In other words, the girl is looked at as a lesser being and should be treated that way.

Teens of both sexes, and young girls especially, should have the proper education to protect themselves from unplanned pregnancy and STDs. More importantly, a girl should be taught that abstaining from sex is the most logical choice, but if they do decide to have sex they shouldn’t have to worry about how the public will view them. They are human beings that should be looked at no differently than a man who has sex before he is 20.

Action
The first step will be to establish contact with our proposed community partners and see what needs to be done. Depending on what work needs to be done (petitioning, e-mail drives, promoting, etc.) Ryan and Cecily will go around to different organizations and clubs here on campus and ask for support in helping our cause, and finding other volunteers to take action. We are looking at the possibilities of a debate between the College Democrats and College Republicans on the issue of comprehensive sex education being taught in school and the Feminist Radio discussing The Healthy Teens Act and comprehensive sex education on their radio program. If petitioning, e-mail drives, and promoting become the main focus of the project, Heidi and Madison will be actively participating in those actions, and helping to organize anyone else who is interested in volunteering. Ryan and Cecily will hopefully be able to obtain those volunteers through contact with campus clubs and organizations.

Timeline
We will deliver the final project on May 3, 2010. Here is our plan for completing the project:

1/25/10: Organizational Meeting
2/2/10: Research Meeting; Getting in contact with Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando
2/16/10: Organizational Meeting
2/17/10-3/23/10: Further Research
3/24/10: UCF Day at the Capital
3/25/10-4/27/10: Email interviews to congressmen, write and revise article/essay
4/28/10: Final group meeting
5/3/10: Present final project in class



Works Cited
Community Action Kit. "Sugar & Spice, Virtue & Vice." 2008. Community Action Kit. 3 February 2010 http://www.communityactionkit.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewPage&pageID=1091&nodeID=3&stopRedirect=1.

"Could Sex Ed Be Coming To Florida Schools?" 23 January 2009. Orlando Sentinel. 2 February 2010 http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_education_edblog/2009/01/could-sex-ed-be-coming-to-floridas-schools.html.

Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando. 2008. 3 February 2010 http://www.ppgo.org.

The Healthy Teens Campaign. "A Closer Look at Florida." 2008. The Healthy Teens Campaign. 3 February 2010 http://healthyteensflorida.org/node/8.

—. The Healthy Teens Campaign. 3 February 2010 http://www.healthyteensflorida.org.

Who Came First, The Woman or The Disease?

Let's face it. Advertising wasn't very gender-friendly about 50-60 years ago. Society itself wasn't very gender-friendly either. The men were bred to get married, have a family, and be a responsible career man. Women on the other hand were often taught that their place was in the home catering to their husband's every whim while raising a family and keeping the house orderly and tidy. Who's job was it though when it came to preventing any unwanted consequences while having sex? This ad here clearly advertises to men that they need to protect themselves from these unwanted consequences (pregnancy and mostly venereal disease).

This advertisement depicts a white woman who is dressed in a fashion that was considered to be moderately conservative. She isn't dressed in a flowy "June Cleaver" dress, but she isn't in capris and a tank top either. Basically this illustrated woman is made to represent the majority of the women of that time. This "everyday woman" also has her body positioned in a way that would suggest that she's slightly suspicious of something. She may also be conversing with another man that isn't visible in this ad. This advertisement would have most likely been published in magazines and newspapers that catered to men. After getting a good glance at this ad most men would start to question what diseases their partners at the time might be carrying.

It almost seems that the goal of the marketers creating this ad at the time were trying to get the message out to men everywhere that women are promiscuous, disease-riden sexual beings. They were also sending men the message to protect themselves from these women (but don't stop your sex life because of it). About the only absolute truth to this advertisement is that prophylaxis (condoms) prevent venereal disease (if used correctly of course). To say that women are the only ones carrying diseases and spreading them to their partners is a bit one-sided to say the least.

That's the way society was carried then and is still carried today. Women in our society are damned by this double standard placed on them by the Patriarchal system. Either a woman is a "good" woman or a "bad" woman, the virgin or the whore- the woman that men will want to marry or the woman that men will fool around with (Women's Sexuality 151). The system controls what marketers put in their ads. Showing that a man needs to "protect" himself from the all too vunerable woman was something that was widely accepted during the time of this ad's publishment. Nowadays the marketers of this ad would be frowned upon and receive some negative critisizm.

Advertising today has definately made a giant leap for the better from where it stood 50-60 years ago when portraying gender equality. Commercials and advertisements for condoms in today's society show more of a sex-positive attitude for men and women. They also place the responsibility for using their products correctly in the hands of both partners involved in the sexual relationship (whether they be gay, straight, or otherwise). No one gender is carrying more venereal diseases than the other and yet both men and women should take equal precautions to protect themselves from these unwanted diseases.

Johnson, Allan G. "Patriarchy, the System". Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 68-76.

"Women's Sexuality". Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 149-160.

Women Suffragists in Two Different Lights

The women sufragist movement has been depicted in many different lights through many different movies. This blog entry takes a look into two movies, "Iron Jawed Angels" and "Mary Poppins". "Iron Jawed Angels" tells the story of the ordeal that the women sufragists went through to ratify the 19th admendment. "Mary Poppins", on the other hand, tells the story of a family who, disconnected at the beginning of the film, are brought magically back together through the quirky nanny that comes unexpectedly into their lives. While both movies have totally different themes, they both have women suffragists in them.

The word suffragist in both films was used in the same way when you look at the core meaning of the word. The suffragists in both films fought for women's right to vote. They were both admired by those who supported the cause and looked down on by those who opposed the cause. Most of the suffragists in "Iron Jawed Angels" took a very active approach to trying to ratify the admendment. The only exception was Senator Leighton's wife who gave monotary donations to the cause, but did not actively participate for fear of risking her husbands career. Mrs. Banks in "Mary Poppins" took an active role in the movement. She boasted and bragged about how much work her and her fellow suffragists accomplished that day to the housekeepers when she came home. As soon as Mr. Banks arrived home though she hid her suffragist sash and did not speak of her day with her husband because he did not support the cause.

The representations of the suffragist movement in "Iron Jawed Angels" was more realistic than "Mary Poppins". "Iron Jawed Angels" follows the herstory of the ratification of the 19th admendment with close accuracy from the marches, protests, picketing, hunger strikes, and strife that the women had to go through in order to fight for their right to vote. Mrs. Banks and her fellow suffragists in "Mary Poppins" were painted in a different light though. "Mary Poppins" made it seem like all that the suffragists did was throw rotten food at the prime minister and and sang songs all day long. While these things might have gone on at some time or another, that was not the only thing that these women did to fight for their rights. Let's face it, some rotten food and a positive, powerful song isn't going to earn equal rights for women all on their own.

By the end of "Iron Jawed Angels" the women still continue to be suffragists. They know that their fight is far from over. Through all of their hard work and struggle they were able to get a bill passed that helped 35 states ratify the admendment. There was still much more work to go. It seemed though that at the end of "Mary Poppins" Mrs. Banks quit the fight because her family was back together and to her that was all that mattered. She felt that staying home and being with her kids while her husband went off to work to be a far more wise choice.

"A Question of Class" Discussion Abstract

Madison Zierk
WST 3015
Jeannina Perez
January 30, 2010

Allison, Dorothy. “A Question of Class.” Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa- Rey. 5th Ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 112-119. Print.
Allison’s article “A Question of Class” tells of the author’s struggle with growing up as a child of the working class. Not only as a child of the working class, but a lesbian who was trying to work her way out of the working class. In the beginning of the article Allison disscusses her constant need while growing up was to hide who she was. She hid her family history and her life from her lovers, her friends, and anybody else who tried to get to know her. She felt that if she revealed who she was she would move over to “the land of they” (112). This “land of they” was a place where people were ridiculed and looked down on for being different or less fortunate. As being a lesbian and a former working class member, Dorothy felt she had to hide just about everything about herself.
As Allison worked to climb out of the working class (she graduated from high school and earned a college education) she watched her sisters, along with her aunts and cousins, settle for the class that they were born into. They dropped out of high school and worked as waitresses, laundry workers, and counter girls. Over time Dorothy found herself drifting further away from her family. Only every now and then did she remind herself of who she was and where she came from.
One of those days, described in the article, was when Allison had to speak for two different groups. The Episcopalian Sunday School class was made up of all white and were clearly members of the middle and upper classes. The other group, a juvenille detention center, were all women, minorities, and members of the lower middle and working classes. Both groups asked the same kinds of questions but they left Dorothy with a different mix of emotions. She left the Sunday School feeling depressed and on the verge of tears. The juvenille detention center left her grinning from ear to ear.
These two completely different groups led Dorothy Allison to the conclusion that no matter what she did to escape her past and climb out of the working class, she will always be a member of the working class. After this realization, Allison then goes on to discuss her anger towards a system that looks down on those who were not born into a priviledged life. She goes on to say “I understood again that some are given no quarter, no chance, that all their courage, humor, and love for each other is just a joke to the ones wo make the rules, and I hated the rule makers.”(118) The conlusion made by Allison is that society chooses to look down onto others that are different because they feel security for themselves and their communities depends on the oppression of others (119).

All About Maddie!

Hello to my fellow classmates and Nina. My name is Madison Zierk, but I prefer Maddie. Maddie just sounds so much more friendly. My older sister calls me Madison. It drives me insane! I feel like I'm in trouble for something every time someone refers to me as "Madison". 23 years ago I was born in St. Augustine. I have lived in Palm Coast my whole life until recently when I moved to Orlando this past semester for school. I'm a Junior and am currently undecided as to what I want to do with my life. Technically I'm a History major but that's going to change real soon. I found out last semester that liking history and actually having the drive to study it are two completely different things. Now I'm just trying to find something that will make me happy. I'll worry about the money aspect of my career options after I graduate.

I remember being 13 years old and in my 8th grade class we kept a journal. My teacher asked us what we would like to do when we "grew up". I wrote in my journal that I wanted to be an activist. Then he responded by writing "what kind of an activist would you like to be?" That's where I became stumped. I knew I wanted to change the world in some way, I just didn't know how or what I wanted to change. As I've gotten older I've seen things that have happened in the world that I feel need to be changed for the better. I have never participated in any activist groups or functions, but I would like to start. Two issues that I feel need to be changed for the better are LGBT Rights and Women's Rights. I guess that's what brought me into considering Women's Studies as a possible major or minor.

I've always considered myself to be somewhat of a feminist, although I'm not sure as to what degree I am. To me, feminism is an empowerment that women feel when they are working to achieve the same equal rights and respect that men receive every day. I believe that every woman deserves those rights and respect and should fight their hardest to earn them. At the same time though I'm not about to go burning my bras and declaring men as some lowly beings. I know that's the horrible stereotype that every feminist is perceived as. I also know that only a small percentage is actually that kind of feminist. That's why I want to learn about Women's studies. I feel that Women's studies is the learning and understanding of where women as a gender came from and what they had and learning how women grew to where they are today. It's also a study of how women can continue to fight for their rights and hold on to the ones they already have. I am very grateful for the rights that I have today courtesy of the stong women that fought for those rights. Those rights include everything from being able to vote to wearing a pair of pants.

All in all, I believe that taking this course will be a fun learning experience that I can't wait to start. I feel that I will leave this course having a better knowledge of what it means to be a woman and a feminist. I'm also hoping to come out of this course with a new major or minor that I'm going to actually enjoy learning about. I've read, understand, and agree to the course syllabus and blogging protocals.